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Best Of

Re: Funny Stuff

A priest and a politician go to Heaven. After the preliminaries are all dealt with, St. Peter takes them both to see where they will be staying. He first takes them to a plain high-rise apartment block, and after a long ride in an elevator, shows the Priest his apartment; a modest, sparsely-furnished, practical functional place, with a small kitchen, bathroom, living room, bedroom with a single bed, side table, chair and wardrobe. Muted colours, minimal decor.
Having left the Priest to his own devices, St. Peter then takes the politicians to an amazing home, with an all-round porch/verandah, luxury living,opulent decor, and an all-singing all dancing brass band and cheerleader troupe.
The Politician is somewhat stunned at the stark difference between the Priest's accommodation and his, but St Peter explains, "Oh, well, you know, Priests and Holy men are two a dime here, but you're the first politician we've ever had..."

Re: American Zen?

Nice tag.
If zazen was just a posture, couldn't the nearest Buddha statue do your practice instead.
Time to call into question, all pride based Zazen business models.

howhow

Re: Zazen is not meditation?!

@How

But zazen is meditation then! Why say it is not meditation practice? I mean, I find this an extra-confusing step. Perhaps you want to get rid of categories and concepts but human beings operate and construct these to engage with their reality.

[Dramatic pause]

Mid-way through writing that paragraph I realise how this conceptual proliferation -In Theravada, they call it papañca - is so human-like and perhaps to reach Nirvana one must learn to pause it.

Kotishka's head begins to emit steam

Thank you all.

PD: I will watch the videos later Shoshin :)

Re: Zazen is not meditation?!

Zazen is good for nothing.


Zazen is not meditation?!

Dear all,

What is the difference between having a meditation practiced based on following the breath versus one having no grounding at all (just sitting)? Well, your mind is the _ground _really during zazen! Then why distinguish zazen as not being a meditation practice?

If zazen is what the Buddha did, then zazen is just meditation. If we get all technical and scholarly, we could even say it is a type / sub-type of meditation.

Any thoughts?

Thank you all.

Re: Important Stuff

The mythical land of 'Merika" is mired knee deep in Trumpsylania.
The real U S of America is hidden behind the smoke and mirrors.

Re: How very disappointing...

I am not sure it's wise to expect religious fields filled with devotees, most often brimming over with the wounded in life in both leaders and followers, to be any less susceptible to the human condition than any other groupings where power differences occur.
In fact, the very expectation that a religious field should be less dangerous to the vulnerable is a naivety that ill prepares a path walker to navigate through those power imbalances safely.

Only beings in positions of power over others, who unfailingly place the welfare of those in their care above that of their own, are likely to be free of power's abusive failings.
How much more difficult it must be for ordinary teachers, in isolation from their betters, to be ever transcendent of their own baser natures when ever surrounded by followers whose practices are devotional in nature.

Our Sangha's are littered with bitter practitioners who have only discovered later in life, how complicit they've been in a teacher's failings just by placing them on a pedestal.

howhow

Re: Deliberatly Ending a Human life- How can we justify it ?

Talk of death, in ordinary social circles has, until relatively recently, been a taboo subject. We have different euphemisms to describe it; kicking the bucket, pushing up daisies, passing on or away, going before, going West, crossed over, beyond the veil, met their Maker, closed the book...people feel it's a morbid subject, and shy away from discussing it, for fear of facing their own inevitable demise. Maybe for Assisted Dying to not be so controversial, we should strive - skillfully, appropriately, and kindly - to make talking about dying, the same way we chat about going on holiday. Only, there's no Return Ticket....🤷‍♀️

Re: How very disappointing...

Right View and Right Intention help in understanding the nature of temptation.

Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration help cultivate inner discipline.

Right Effort encourages abandoning unwholesome states and developing wholesome ones.

And Dharma teachers being Dharma teachers (aka 'human' ) are still susceptible to temptation.

Temptation is like letting kids loose in a sweet shop. Some will resist with discipline, while others will indulge. The struggle with desire is at the heart of Buddhist practice, and even Dharma teachers, as human beings, are not exempt from it....

When our desires take over the mind.

Re: How very disappointing...

Every path has its own potential failings along with its successes.
Sexual transgressions happen to be a potential failing of the faith/devotional path.

The most common cases of sexual predation occurring within the Buddhist clergy seem to be found in those same teachers who have fostered deliberate levels of autonomy from their own spiritual peers, elders & masters. A relative freedom from scrutiny.
The power differences that allow spiritual pedophilia to occur in the master/disciple relationships do not occur in a vacuum. They are the careful orchestrations of a perpetrator over their subjects. Senior disciples must also enable such failings in their teacher to allow them to continue to be hidden.

Teachers who allow a student's ardor and faith/ devotion to be applied to the teacher, rather than to a practice, are simply grooming that follower for the potential arriving preceptual breakages that will swallow both of their practices.

Perhaps all of us have some potential for being abusive over those less able to defend themselves. Perhaps the seeing of where we might also have such potentials within ourselves might allow us to not walk so blindly down those same paths.

howhow